Dan Gizmo and the Crystal Gems
by Great Another One
Summary: Years before the events of Steven Universe, the gems meet an... interesting human with a flair for invention. Enter Dan Gizmo, best inventor this side of the planet! And the other side, too. Starts at the beginning of SU with 'Gem Glow.' Gets going after the first two chapters.
1. Chapter 1: Gem Glow

Steven was lost. Like, really lost. Garnet was standing there with her gauntlets summoned, but he wasn't focused on her at all, really. "At least that's my way of doing it." She says, letting the magical fists dissipate back into light.

This was going nowhere. Pearl had told him to learn how to dance like a tree (or something, she seemed really pleased with herself and he didn't want to ruin her mood by asking what she meant) and Amethyst told him not to try at all, but how was he supposed to get his weapon if he didn't try! 'Maybe… maybe Dan will know!' He thinks, a smile growing on his face. "Thanks Garnet!" The small, brown haired boy ran down the sloped side of the cliff, disappearing from the boxy headed gem's view.

* * *

"He's Dan, he's the man!" Steven sung as he ran across the hill outside the front of his home. "He's Dr. Dan the Doctor man!" His feet carry him past the stairs leading up to his front door, to a little shack just a bit further along. "It's Uncle Dan!" He finishes, throwing the door open.

Inside, an older caucasian man sits behind a table, folding his newspaper at Stevens loud entrance. He loosely wears a labcoat over a simple jeans and t-shirt getup, and a pair of goggles keep his messy, short grey hair from falling down his forehead. A grin spreads to his face, the slight wrinkles near his eyes growing more defined as he looks down at the boy. "What's up, kid?" He says, opening the news again, although he keeps it low enough to gaze at Steven over the top of the paper.

Steven throws his arms up into the air. "Daaan! How do I summon my weapon!" The boy whines as he enters, the door gently closing itself behind him.

Dan raises an eyebrow, glancing up from the page for a moment. "Why are you asking me? I'm not a gem."

"But you know all kinds of cool gem stuff!" There was no chair opposite to the lanky man, so Steven instead climbs up onto the table. He pulls down at the top of the paper, once again grabbing the attention of the graying man. "Aren't you the expert on gems?" His childlike gaze holds a starry fascination, but it doesn't faze the man.

He pulls his paper from Stevens grip, huffing as he straightens the now wrinkled page. "Obviously. I'm the best. But why would you think I know so much about _your_ gem. And get off the table!"

Steven slides back onto the ground, his mouth pursed in a line. "My gem? What does that have to do with it?"

That seemed to get a reaction from the seemingly uncaring man. He folds and places his paper onto the table, setting his elbows on it and resting his chin on his hands. "Everything. How's about you start from the beginning."

* * *

"Well no wonder you're having problems." Dan says, shrugging. "Stop trying to copy the other gems."

Steven blinks. Then he blinks again. "What do you mean!" He shouts. "They _know_ how to summon weapons!"

"They know how to summon _their_ weapons. Steven…" He pauses, rubbing his chin a few times. "Explain to me how to breath. Explain it to me like I've never taken in air before."

Steven thinks for a second, his eyebrows furrowing. "I, uh, start by… uh… well my lungs get big as I take in air!"

Dan shakes his head. "No, that's what happens _while_ you're breathing. Get the point? It's not so easy all the time to explain how you do what you do." Steven nods, but a frown is present on his face, and his eyes are downcast. "C'mon, lighten up. If you aren't ready, you aren't ready. There's a reason why kids don't drive."

There's a long pause. "...Because they'd crash?" Steven's response to his rhetorical statement makes Dan's eyebrow twitch a little.

"Because they're tiny idiots and they don't know how to pace themselves. So what if you can't get your weapon, you haven't even finished growing yet!" Dan lifts a hand to thump it on his chest. "Anyway, I don't have a gem weapon and I'm still awesome." He nods to himself a few times, before grabbing and returning to his paper.

But Steven wasn't paying attention at that point. His mind was back when his gem glowed, with the cookie cats and the gems, replaying the moment in time. "Thanks Dan!" Dan... hadn't really been much help either, but now he had a plan on recreating that moment.

* * *

It wasn't working. "Why isn't it working!" The cookie cat was delicious, but he wasn't focused on that. He was more focused on the giant, acid spitting monster screeching at him. If only he'd listened and stayed inside! The gems were busy fighting the tail of the beast, too busy to save him. Barely, he manages to escape, rolling to the side, but the monster goes in for a second attack. Steven yells as the creature dives for him, shielding his eyes.

Then, there's a bang and something hits him. Hard. It knocks the wind out of him for sure, his eyes snapping open. But he's not inside the creature's mouth, or sliced in two, or dissolved to green muck, but about twenty feet to the side with a beanbag laying next to him, with his side stinging like nothing else.

"Get your filthy maw off my godson!"

Steven's eyes follow past the creature, towards the shack in the distance, it's door ajar with an angry old man posed as if he'd just kicked it open. He probably had, or shot it open with the strange gun in his hands. "Uncle Dan!" Steven shouts, but all that does is get the creature's attention. There's a second bang and the creature screeches as something impacts it's back, and it's lone eye turns to face the man.

Dan is fumbling with the weapon, pulling something out of his pocket, but it's hard to see from this distance. The green eye closes and acid begins dripping from it's mouth again, and it's clear to Steven that Dan won't be ready in time. His eyes dart around, eventually landing on the freezer. It takes only a moment's deliberation. "I'm sorry, cookie cat!" Steven yells, hefting the fridge above his head and hurling it at the monster.

The effect is immediate. The creatures eye snaps open and it's hair stands on end as electricity runs through it, stunning it as it convulses. "Gems, weapons!" Garnet calls, the warriors bursting through the stone hand they hid behind. "Let's do it!" Amethyst and Pearl nod, and they all burst into action.

It's over before Steven can even see them move, not that he's focused on them. His teary eyes are on the wrapper in his hand, the only one he ate. All the rest of them were in the freezer, smashed against the beast's thick hide.

"Cookie cat…" Slowly, he lowers the wrapper into a small hole he dug, covering it with loose soil. "Farewell sweet cookie cats…" He murmurs, biting back tears. "I'll always remember the time we spent together…" A single leaf marks the grave, his hands gently holding his side.

Dan approaches from behind, his gun left back at the house. "It's probably for the best." He says, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Those things were terrible for you."

Amethyst takes a squat next to the boy. "Are you crying?"

"ONLY A LITTLE!" He cries, Garnet and Pearl approaching from the sides.

The purple gem chuckles a little. "Well I guess your powers don't come from ice cream." She says, her tone quite amused.

"Of course they don't come from ice cream." Pearl says, sporting her own smile. It falls after a moment. "Don't worry Steven. I'm sure someday you'll figure out how to activate your gem." She finishes with a smile again, and this time Steven is smiling with her.

"Yes." Even with her visor on, Steven can tell Garnets smile is genuine. "In your own, Steven-y way."

For a moment, all of them stood there in comfortable silence. "That bean bag really hurt." Steven eventually murmurs, rubbing his sore side.

Dan gives him another pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry kid. It wasn't strong enough to break bones… not your crazy bones anyway." The older man shrugs and walks off with a self satisfied smile.

"It still hurt."

"You'll live."

* * *

 **I'm not sure when this went from an idea in my head to something I actually considered writing. It was probably around the time I looked up what Connie's mom's first name was (it's Priyanka.) Yes, the Maheswarans will be a larger (somewhat) part of the story in this fic. I always liked the idea of normal dealing with supernatural, and I genuinely like the characters of the Maheswarans.**

 **By the way, I've been rewatching the first few episodes of SU for this, and it's pretty jarring how… uncanny valley it can be if you pause at the wrong time. The art hadn't found itself yet, and takes at least until ep. 4~ish to do so, around frybo or catfingers.**

 **Anyway, tell me how I did! I wasn't really sure where to start with this fic (I have most of it planned out, before SU the show chronologically starts, and after it at least partway through the second season,) So I decided to just start at the beginning, and reveal how Dan met the gems in flashbacks. Oh flashbacks, how convenient are thee.**

 **That being said,** **I really didn't like how this chapter turned out. Whatever.**

 **Don't worry, I don't plan on taking too long with it, but I have zero schedule for when the chapters will be released. Probably just gonna write until I burn myself out and then stop for a while.**


	2. Chapter 2: Laser Light Cannon

"Steven, we're closed." The tall, yellow haired man says. His locks stand straight up, held together by a red visor. He looks over the three of them with a sorry frown, pointing to his 'closed' sign.

"Give him the bits!" The purple gem says, dropping her fist onto the counter. Steven soon joins her.

"The BITS! The BITS!" The two shorter figures chant as they pound on the counter. Soon, The older man with them joins in the chanting as well.

"Ok, ok. Just take it easy on the counter."

"The structural integrity of your counter is not at risk."

The yellow haired man wasn't listening to Dan, though, instead moving over to his fry cooker. He dumps the fried 'bits' into a bag from the metal mesh, turning back to Steven. "I can give you actual fries if you want."

"Just the bits, please!"

"Uh, guys?" Dan no longer faces the Fryman, instead looking wide eyed out towards the ocean. "We might have bigger problems than 'if Steven is gonna get the bits.'"

Amethyst turns around, scanning the horizon before her eyes eventually land on the giant red eye. "Oh no. What's /that/ doing here!" With a simple heft, she lifts Steven and dashes off towards the temple, Dan close in tow. "My bits!" Steven cries, a confused Fryman awkwardly waving them off, bag of bits still in his hand.

* * *

"Garnet! Pearl!" Amethyst shouts as she approaches, still carrying Steven over her head. Dan follows soon after.

"We saw, some of us are _trying_ to protect-"

"Pearl, stop being Pearl for a minute and explain the giant thing in the sky."

The blueish gem grits her teeth together, staring down the slightly taller man. He didn't seem to notice, or care, his focus mainly on the thing slowly growing bigger in the sky. "It's called a 'Red Eye.'" She eventually says, going back to her telescope.

"Red eye?! It's going to infect us all!" Steven cries, his hands placed on his face in shock.

"If only. Judging by its trajectory, and the speed it's going at… we're all gonna be pancakes in a few hours. Pink eye will be the least of our worries." Dan scratches his chin, eyes locked on the object of their doom.

Steven looked worried. "What are we going to do?"

Dan takes his eyes off the orb for a minute, looking down at the boy. "To be honest, kid, I don't know. I was never the expert in ranged weaponry. Rose was great, and… someone else is pretty good too, but I never saw the point."

"Mom used ranged weapons?"

"The only thing strong enough to break the Red Eye is a light cannon that belonged to her." Garnet pipes in, adjusting her visor.

Amethyst whines, her shoulders slumping. "If Rose were here, this would be so easy."

"C'mon, Amy, you're just being lazy. We'll think of something."

Steven get's a bright smile on his face, a lightbulb practically visibly going off in his head. "If it belonged to mom, I bet my dad will know where it is! He can help us save the day!" He looked excited, and none of the gems seemed to have it in them to break his confidence.

"Yea, probably not." Dan bluntly stated.

Pearl nods a little bit. "Steven, Greg is… nice," It was clearly a bit of a struggle for her to come up with something kind to say about the man, a crooked smile awkwardly pasted on her face, "but I doubt Rose would entrust… him, with such a powerful weapon."

"At least it's worth a shot." Dan shrugged, but it was pretty clear neither him nor the gems thought Steven's theory held any water. Nonetheless, the young boy runs off towards Beach City.

* * *

"This isn't working." Dan murmurs. That much was obvious. The eye was huge now, and the whole sky was painted red. "Try adding some fins." He says as Amethyst returns, the purple gem once again transforming into a javelin, this time with some fins. Garnet grabs her and pulls back, chucking the transformed gem with a blur of her hand. Despite the speed, the purple torpedo bounces off like a toothpick off a rock. It isn't long before she returns to shore.

"Throw me again, I think I'm cracking it!"

Dan shakes his head, rubbing his chin gently as he thinks. "No. We need something stronger… We could try Opal?"

Both Amethyst and Pearl flinch a little bit, looking at each other. Pearl gulps and shakes her head. "W-what if Steven sees us? We weren't going to tell him about fusion until he was ready!"

"What if Steven gets crushed under a giant sphere the size of beach city?"

Pearl was never the best at clever retorts. A tense silence drops over the group. "I… I guess it's worth a shot." Amethyst says, standing and moving over. They don't even start dancing, though, before they hear music.

'And if we look out of place,

Well, baby, that's ok.

I'll drive us into outer space,

Where we can't hear what people say.'

Dan blinks, turning to face the source of the music. His eyes lock onto what's trailing behind the van "Well I'll be…"

'I don't have a plan

I'm working on that part

At least I've got my van

So let me drive my van into your heart!'

"He really had it!" Pearl seems relieved, probably for more reasons than one.

'Let me drive my van into your heart!'

The gems ran over to help Steven and Greg with the cannon. "I don't know how this works!" Pearl cries, running her hands over the surface. The eye was picking up rocks and bits of wood. The wind was whipping past them, fast, and he could barely hear Pearls frantic shouting.

"A code phrase! I asked Rose about the cannon once, but I never asked what the code was!" Dan shouts, running over. The giant eye is pulling the cannon and the van now, and Greg goes to untie the two. He says something, but it's not audible over the rushing wind.

"Activate, go, shoot!" Steven shouts, banging his fist on the side of the barrel. "Come on, I know you can do it!"

"Garnet, we could really use some future stuff right about now!" Dan calls, turning towards the tall gem.

Her hands are on the sides of her head, and her teeth are visibly clenched. "I'm trying, there's too many paths!"

The eye was close now, close enough that they could stare into its aperture iris and see the empty blackness inside. "Don't worry about it Steven! We'll figure something out! Something better!" Greg shouts, futily holding onto the the tether as his van and the cannon are slowly dragged towards the ocean. "If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs!"

The aged rock stars voice is barely heard over the wind, but it's enough. There's a clunk, then another, and another. The top of the cannon begins unfolding, the flaps pulling back into the shape of a blooming flower as the cannon begins to emit light. "Really?! That was the code phrase!" Dan shouts, flinching as the heavy barrel suddenly falls forwards. Steven immediately goes to pick it up, but it's soon lifted out of his hands as the other gems move into help. Then, it fires.

It's a beautiful display, the beam splitting with a 'blooming' effect, eventually forming the shape of a woman before it slams into the Red Eye. Then, the Red Eye is no more. Chunks of the thing begin falling away from where it once was, the sky going from it's red, to pink, then back to its normal nighttime hue.

"Job well done." Dan says, nodding once to himself even as the shards of red rock begin pelting beach city. A few even land scarily close to them, but Dan doesn't notice. He only looks up as the water, pulled in by the eye, washes back out and submerges everyone to their waists. Laughter washes over the group, at least in partly in relief.

Greg stops laughing as his van washes past, then back out towards the sea. "My van!"

It only makes Dan laugh louder.

* * *

 **Second chapter done! Alright, so I'm getting pretty tired of copying down what they all say word for word as it was in the show. I'm probably gonna just watch an episode through and then write after that. If you notice any inconsistencies, than kill me for being lazy.**

 **I'm equally dissatisfied with this chapter as I was the last. Next time I'm gonna try something a bit different. Hopefully I'll feel better about it.**

 **Also, I'm probably going to be sticking to SU cannon for pretty much the whole fic. I think SU cannon is great, although I might be jumping forwards over the boring or unchanged episodes.**

 **Next time I'll be doing… something. Dunno, don't rush me bro.**


	3. Chapter 3: Breakfast at Rose's

Steven hums to himself as he walks towards the small shack.

"He's Dan, He's the man!

He's Dr. Dan the Doctor man,

It's Uncle D-"

"Boo!" Right before Steven gets to the door, it's flung open from the inside, knocking Steven back and making him yell in surprise. "Ahahahaha! What's up, kid?" Dan's stands there in the doorway, arms folded with an amused grin plastered on his face. The grin fades as he sees what's in Steven's hand. "Is that… popcorn on pancakes?"

"Waffles, but it's a Together Breakfast!" Steven says, standing and holding it out for him to see. "I was gonna get you last, because you're always around, but I can't find any of the gems!"

The doctor's thumb lifts to point over his shoulder, back into the shack. "Dunno about Garnet or Pearl, but Amy is asleep on the couch. I'd get her last myself, though. She'd probably just eat the whole thing herself when you aren't looking." His eyes once again drift to the 'together breakfast,' observing the… interesting choices Steven made. "It looks just like a concoction she'd whip up. She hasn't been teaching you how to cook, has she?"

"Can you help me look for the other gems? Please?" Steven's eyes are starred as he gazes over the top of his stacked culinary creation. Dan blinks a few times at the suddenness of his request, but shrugs.

"Sure kid. I bet they're just out on a mission, though." He walks back into the house, motioning for him to follow. Past the couch with the sleeping gem, and the table he normally is found sitting at, to a small monitor near the back of the shed. Dan takes a seat. "Let's see…" The older man hums to himself as he types away on the keyboard. "Yep, Garnet is out on a mission and… Pearl is in the temple."

"Whoa… how do you know that?" Steven sets the plate down on the table, moving closer to get a look at the monitor. However, he can't make heads or tails of the script. It looks like literal chicken scratch.

Dan spins around in his swivel chair to face the boy. "After an… unfortunate mission Pearl went on a while ago, I invented a system to monitor the gems while they're out on missions. Y'know those green orbs near the warp pad?"

"The mission spheres?" Steven's eyes widen. He'd always wondered what they were for, especially after he actually saw one flying with them during the sea spire mission.

"Exactly." Dan nods once, leaning back in his chair. "They let the gems go on more solo missions, and they give Garnet more information to work with. Makes her more accurate. Anyway, because they're near the warp pad, they also monitor who enters and leaves the temple. Pearl entered her room a few hours ago." Dan presses a button on the keyboard, and the monitors flicker off. "You should probably go now."

Steven's brow furrows. "H-Huh? Why?" Dan had never asked him to leave before. In fact, he once told him he was _always_ welcome.

"'Cuz Amy is about to eat your breakfast."

Steven spins, grabbing for the breakfast as a now awake Amethyst attempts to do the same. Fortunately for him, he's a moment quicker. "No, Amethyst! This is a Together Breakfast! It has to be enjoyed together!"

"Oh, I see." She says, blank look on her face. Then, a wide grin breaks out and she reaches forward. "Gimme!"

"Run, Steven." Dan says, looking impassive.

Steven doesn't have to be told twice.

* * *

Steven bolts into his house, the door barely closing before Amethyst throws it open, hot on his heels. For a moment, he considers making a dash for his bed, but that wouldn't stop Amethyst. By the time he finishes his thought he's past the stairs to his little loft anyway, so he just keeps running.

'I wish I could hide somewhere!'

He doesn't even notice the glow of his gem, but he does notice the door to the temple suddenly glowing, a triangle appearing to spin around until the entire door was pink. Then, it was open. Amethyst stops in shock, but Steven doesn't notice.

"Steven, wai-" Amethysts calls are too late, the boy is already inside, and the door phases back into existence the moment before she can follow him inside. He is alone, finally.

Actually, that's not what he wanted at all. This breakfast was supposed to bring them together! Steven groans, flopping onto his back as he catches his breath. He rests the breakfast on his stomach, taking a moment to take in his surroundings.

Pink. Pink everywhere. Clouds of pink as far as he can see, underneath his feet and far into the sky. Was this… his mom's room? He didn't really think about it at the time, but he did just run into the temple.

* * *

"Amy, calm down."

"Pearl is gonna _kill_ me! Garnet is gonna kill me!" The purple gem stood before her human friend, hands running over her head. Her eyes are wide and lined with worry, but Dan doesn't seem concerned.

"Amy, you're overreacting."

"Overreacting! It'd be different if one of us was with him, but he's in there, alone! Roses room can go anywhere in the temple, even the super dangerous parts! What if-"

"Amethyst." The gem in question flinches, looking up at the aged man. Dan _never_ called her by her full name. "To get to anywhere from Rose's room, you have to know where you're going. The worst that happens is the room lets him into the temple if he asks to be brought to Pearl. While there's a chance Rose's room itself could hurt him, Steven is smarter than to ask for something that could do that. Worst case scenario, he overloads the room and has to tumble infinitely through nothing until he figures out how to reset the simulation or leave. Have a little faith in him."

Amethyst's lips were pursed, and the worry lines around her eyes were still present, but she slowly nodded. "Still, we should do something."

Dan sighed, but he slowly nodded. "If he's not out in half an hour, I'll open Roses door."

* * *

Steven laughed as he bounced on the bed. This room was soooo cool! All he had to do was ask, and it would give him whatever he wanted. Well, besides food. Another burp escapes him, with a pink cloud passing his lips with it. He'd swallowed two fake cookie cats whole before he actually bit into one and poofed it.

He flops back onto the bed, letting out a content sigh. This place was great. He'd have to bring the gems here some… the gems! Together Breakfast! He sat up suddenly and looked around. His waffles are where he left them, on a table he'd first asked for when his arms got tired. His legs quickly carry him over and he snatches the plate. He wasn't going to let Together Breakfast become Together Brunch!

* * *

Dan flipped another page of his newspaper, staring over it for a moment to watch Amethyst pace for a few seconds, before he goes back to the page. They still had at least ten more minutes before he was going to open the door, and he was going to wait as long as possible. Plus, Steven's couch was pretty comfy.

His attention is drawn from his pages once more as the warp pad lights up, a beam of light depositing Garnet into the room. "G-Garnet, hey!" Amethyst says, a forced smile on her face. Dan rolls his eyes. She might as well have been whistling and hiding her hands.

"Hello Amethyst." The curt gem answers, turning and heading for the temple. "Where's Steven?"

"I don-"

"In Rose's room." The older man responds, cutting Amethyst off before she can try and lie. He doesn't even look up from his page to see the purple gem shoot him a look.

Garnet immediately spins towards the man. " _What?_ "

Dan lowers his paper again, giving the large gem a raised eyebrow. "Ten minutes."

That makes her pause. Seeing that, Dan goes back to his page. Might as well, her future vision usually took a moment.

And it only took a moment. Garnet's hands curl into fists, and a frown is stuck on her face, but she doesn't say anything else. Amethyst tries to shoot Dan another look, but he's not paying attention at all.

After a moment, the door to the temple does open, but not with a pink swirl. "H-Hey! That's _my_ door!" Amethyst shouts, running over. Pearl emerges a moment later, a curved sword in hand, the purple goop stitching itself back together behind her to form the stone door once more.

"Oh, Amethyst. There you are." She says, in a somewhat smug tone. "Care to explain what one of my swords was doing in your room?"

"You probably lost it in the vortex streams. You do keep those things under water after all." Dan lowers his paper a bit to stare at the thinnest gem, receiving a glower in return.

Pearl huffs as he goes back to his paper, the blue gem striding over. "Dan, what are you doing here?" Her tone has a bite to it that she probably didn't intend, but Dan had gotten used to Pearl a long time ago.

"I'm here to open Rose's door if Steven doesn't come out in…" A brief moment is taken to check his watch, Pearl's mouth dropping open. "Eight minutes."

"W-What?" Pearl fumbles, dropping the sword she was carrying and nearly slicing the coffee table in two. She quickly picks it up again after the shock passes. "You're playing a joke on me."

"No." Garnet responds through clenched teeth. "Steven is inside Rose's room."

* * *

Steven nervously explored the inside of his house. Something didn't seem right… the lights were off, for one, and it was nighttime. Had he really been inside the room the whole day? No way, he'd be waaay hungrier if that was the case. Still, he'd lost time like this before…

"Gaaar-net? Peeearl? Ameee-thyyyst?" He shouts, shifting the plate in his hands. Were they still all gone? Well, Dan could tell them where they were.

Except he couldn't, because the inventor was absent from his shack as well. Weird. Well, He'd better check Beach City just in case.

* * *

Pearl was pacing now, and on the wooden floor, much to the annoyance of Dan. He could barely concentrate on the paper with the incessant stomping. It was still a minute until he said he would open the door, but he was really tempted to open it now.

Suddenly, she spins to him. "Dan! It's time, right?" The blue gem nearly shouts. Dan purses his lips, but folds his paper and places it down. Who was counting anyway? Besides him, that is.

"Alright," He says, strolling over to the door. The other gems are close behind him, a little too close, but they were nimble enough to not step on his shoes, and he'd gotten used to their general lack of human etiquette. "I can only open the door for a little bit before it'll start to damage the temple, so you guys are gonna have to get Steven to let you out." He got a nod from Garnet, which was good enough for him.

Out of his pocket, he retrieved a small, circular, green device. Centered on it was what appeared to be an simple looking gem, but the group recognized it as a power cell. With a clunk, Dan attaches it to the door and presses on the sides. The power cell glows pink for a moment, before it drops off. Unlike before, where the door opened with a gentle sound, there's an unnatural clunking and screeching. The star shrinks into a pink triangle, and spins out, but it's movements aren't smooth, but ridged and forced.

Dan turns around as it opens to tell them to go, but they'd already rushed passed him. With a shrug, he picks up the glowing device and presses on its sides again, the pink glow dissipating and the door snapping shut. At least he'd have some peace and quiet to read.

Steven ran for his life. His breakfast lay forgotten, probably falling into the endless, starry abyss by now. He didn't want this, he just asked to go back to Beach City! Now Beach City was quite literally coming apart at the seams.

"Steven!"

Steven's head whips around, the boy nearly tripping as his eyes lock onto Pearl. "Pearl!" He shouts back. Maybe this one was real. "Are you real?!"

Pearl quickly closes the distance between them, grabbing Steven up and sprinting off. "Yes, I'm real, but we have to find the other gems." The lithe gem quickly jumps up onto one of the remaining parts of a nearby roof, dashing off. "What were you thinking, Steven! Rose's room wasn't meant for this kind of stress!"

"I didn't know!"

Pearl doesn't have the chance to follow up on that, as the segment of floor she just jumped to disappears out of existence. With a swish of her wrist, she summons her weapon, stabbing it into the ground just out of reach to swing off it and land on a piece still around. "Garnet!" She yells, catching a glimpse of her boxy head in the distance. Luckily, Amethyst is with her. Soon, the whole group is standing on one of the last bits of earth left.

"Steven, you need to get us out of here, NOW!"

The boy flinches at Garnets tone, gulping. "I-I don't know how! I asked it to bring me back to Beach City, but-"

"Ask to leave! Qui-" It was too late. Pearl doesn't have time to finish what she's saying before they're all plummeting into the void.

"Room! I want to leave!" He shouts, holding on to Pearl like his life depended on it. It just might.

* * *

Dan looks up from his paper as he hears the door begin to activate. 'It looks so much better when it's opened by itself.' He muses, watching as it opens. Then, the four gems tumble out, rolling in a pile before stopping on top of the warp pad. "Welcome back to reality." He says, going back to his paper.

The gems untangle themselves, before Pearl pulls Steven into a hug. "Steven, I was so worried!" Pearl cries, gripping him like he held her back in the room.

"I'm f-fine!" He wheezes out, his arms stuck upwards.

"He won't be, if you keep holding him like that." Dan finally finishes his paper, placing it down on the desk. He ignores Pearl's glare, standing and walking over "But seriously, kid. Rose's room isn't a plaything." He holds his hand up to silence the boys attempted rebuttal. "I know, you were trying to get away from Amethyst, but you should have left once you realized you were in the temple. You aren't supposed to go in there until-"

Garnet places a hand on his shoulder. It makes Dan raise an eyebrow and look at her, the older man letting out a bit of a sigh at the smile on her face. He turns back to Steven, the boy looking down at the floor. "That being said, I'm impressed you managed to open the door. I was expecting it to happen after you mastered the ability to summon your shield." Steven looks up, an open smile beginning to form on his face as he watches Dan stroke his chin. "You constantly surprise me, kid. Keep it up and you'll master your powers in no time."

"Besides, that was super fun!" Amethyst pipes in, her arms raised above her head. "I wanna do it again!"

Steven's unfitting melancholy dissolves away into his normal childlike glee. "Absolutely not!" Pearl almost hisses, arms folded. "If our downwards velocity had increased much further, we could have been thrown-" She stops, glaring at Amethyst and the hand she was using to 'talk' along with her like a sock puppet. She opens her mouth to chide her, but Steven slaps both hands on his cheeks.

"Wait, the Together Breakfast!"

* * *

Amethyst retrieves the popcorn from the microwave, spilling the contents haphazardly over the double stack of waffles and chocolate syrup. Dan quickly applies a swirl of whip cream, before spraying some out into his mouth. Finally, the strawberry is placed on top. Amethyst stifles a laugh at the look of concentration on Steven's face, but then it's done.

"So... how are we supposed to eat this?" Dan says, after a few seconds of staring at their creation.

"...I never thought about that part." Steven says, after a moment.

* * *

 **Man that felt good. Actually deviating from cannon for once! I got 'roses room' and 'together breakfast' done in one chapter! You'll notice I also skipped over 'cheeseburger backpack' with naught but a mention as I don't think that one would change much with the inclusion of Dan Gizmo.**

 **I actually think I kinda like how this chapter turned out. Probably obvious from the fact it has almost the same amount of words as chapter 1 and 2 combined. Definitely going to be doing this sort-of-cannon approach more.**

 **If anyone is wondering what happened to the scroll Garnet had with her in the original episode, I just imagine she took care of it while they were waiting for the thirty minute mark.**


	4. Chapter 4: The Living Island

"Uncle Dan?" Steven says, struggling to open up the door. His fingers hiss in protest, but he gets it open. He repeats himself as he walks inside, nervously looking around. Dan is nowhere to be seen.

"Looking for someone?"

Steven nearly jumps out of his skin as he spins around, facing towards the entrance to the shed. "Uncle… Dan?"

It is Dan standing in the doorway, but he's not wearing his usual clothes. He wears a sleeveless version of his normal labcoat, with an unusual shirt on. Wait, it isn't a shirt, it looks almost like… armor? He also wears gauntlets on his arms and greaves on his legs, matching the style of the armor covering his torso. They're made of green plates, with black grooves in between them. He also has his goggles over his eyes, letting his grey hair fall forwards over his forehead where the eye protectors would normally sit. "What's up, kid?" He asks, a little bit impatiently, folding his arms.

"W-Well…" Steven thinks for a moment, gulping and holding up his hands. "Amethyst was helping me shapeshift, but they're really annoying and I don't know how to get them to go back!" His fingers yowl and hiss, especially as the older man comes over and kneels in front of the boy. A long sigh escapes him.

"Jeez, kid. Could you have picked a better time?" He looks over the fingers, holding them up. "I was only coming back to grab an extra power cell, I really don't have time…" He sighs again, placing his armored hands on Steven's shoulders. "Stay calm and wait for us to come back."

He stands and moves over to what appears to be a closet, opening it and reaching inside. He stuffs whatever he grabbed in his pocket. "W-Wait!" The kid calls, running over to his side and following him as he leaves the shack. "Where are you going? What are…" His questions are answered as they approach the dock positioned at the end of the beach in front of the temple. The rest of the gems are there, Garnet impatiently thrumming her fingers on one of her biceps. Dan quickly makes his way into the sloop, and it casts off to sea. "You're going on a _mission_?" Steven would be excited if he weren't so afraid of his fingers. "Let me come!"

Pearl turns to give her usual response about safety and such, but notices something. "S-Steven… Your fingers!"

Dan sighs for what feels like the tenth time today, taking a seat at the bottom of the boat. "Yeah, he turned them into cats and can't get them back."

The gem looks horrified. "We have to go back and help Steven!"

"No." Garnet turns around, looking back out to sea. "This is a tectonic emergency. We'll deal with Steven when we get back."

"Dan, you go back then!"

"Don't feel like it."

The light blue gem grits her teeth, her eye twitching slightly. "Amethyst." Pearl spins, pointing an accusatory finger at the smaller gem. "I blame you for this."

The purple gem just smiles and shrugs. "That's fair." It only makes Pearl more angry.

"STEVEN!" She shouts, cupping her mouth to project her voice. Dan covers his ears. "JUST TRY TO STAY CALM."

"I already told him that." Dan murmurs with an annoyed huff.

* * *

When they said 'living island,' they really meant it. If it weren't for the special construction of the sloop, it would have been thrown under the waves the island was kicking up. Instead, the boat just glides right through them, the crystal sail cutting the walls of water open as if they weren't even there. Eventually, they land, Garnet quickly jumping out to pull the boat far on land.

Dan takes a moment to breath as they step off the boat, the island shaking and moving under their feet. If it weren't for the incessant movements, it would be a serene, tropical location. "Finally. Maybe now we can focus on the mission and stop worrying about Steven." He murmurs, shooting a glare towards Pearl.

"Dan, what do you see?" Garnet cuts in, before Pearl can retort.

Dan flicks the side of the right lens on his goggles, the shaded black hue of the glass shifting to red. He flicks it a few more times, the color going to orange, then yellow, then green. He freezes when he gets to a light blue, his face going pale. "Huge energy source. Huge. Right in the center of the island." He can't help but gulp as his eyes lock onto something the others can't see. "I'm guessing that's the target?"

Garnet nods, adjusting her visor. "If we follow the beach to the left, we'll find a path inland."

* * *

"Oh my stars, shut up!" Amethyst yells, clutching her head. "Can't you just think about the mission or something?" The purple gem looks ready to attach Pearl, while she just crosses her arms as they continue forwards.

"But he's alone there, with a transformation out of cont-"

"Pearl." This time, it comes from Garnet. She doesn't say anything else, but it's pretty clear that even the stoic gem has had enough. Pearl purses her lips, but continues forwards.

"Finally…" Dan sighs, for once out of relief instead of annoyance.

However, the respite is short lived, as a groan alerts the group to a tall, crystalline structure falling towards them. It's not particularly fast, and the group easily dashes out of the way, Dan moving with impressive speed for a human. However, another one soon follows, then another and another. It goes on like that for the next couple hundred feet, the crystal columns lining the path falling and smashing the ground where they stood. They keep dodging, but right before the end Dan suddenly slows to a much more human speed. Luckily, Amethyst quickly summons and snaps her whip, wrapping the human and pulling him from danger to the space just beyond where the columns stop.

"Woo, that was close." He says, dusting himself off after the whip dissipates into light.

"You could have _died_!"

Dan raises an eyebrow, expecting an outburst like that _maybe_ from Pearl, but not from Amethyst. "I know, that's why I said it was close." He shrugs a bit, ignoring the annoyed and slightly worried look on the purple gem's face. He taps something on his left gauntlet and one of the plates covering his chest shifts to the side, revealing a dull grey power cell. He pops it out, fishing around in his pocket for a moment, quickly replacing it with a fresh, bright green one. "It won't happen again. Probably."

His word only slightly assuage Amethysts concerns, but the group continues forwards regardless.

* * *

"How close are we?" Pearl asks, looking over to the human. Dan slightly adjusts his goggles, rubbing his finger over the outside of the right lens again. Slowly the color shifts from the light blue to a slightly darker shade.

"Close. Extremely so. I wouldn't be surprised if it was right around the corner."

"It is." Garnet responds, taking a few more steps before she peers around a bend in the path. The rest of the group looks around it as well, spotting a building in the distance. Their approach is slow and cautious, but soon enough they're standing before the structure. It looks kind of like a fat farm silo, a cylinder topped with a dome.

Garnet brushes off some of the greenery that had taken over the outside of the structure, finding an imprint of a palm. Pressing her own to it, a small section of the wall recedes to reveal a short corridor. Slowly, the group moves in, following behind the tallest gem. Soon the hallway opens up to a large room, with a similar, albeit smaller shape to the structure from the outside. Dan's eyes widen.

"I'm guessing _this_ is why you guys brought me along?" Dan says, his head tilting back to stare at the ceiling. Sticking out at about every foot of the dome above them was clear pipes, twisting and weaving around each other as they lead to the center of the dome. Hanging in the middle of the mess was a clear sphere, where all the pipes lead to. Inside that, hung a gem.

"Yes."

Dan could barely make heads or tails of it. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Well this was a pickle. Figuring out how to release the gem was easy enough. Figuring out how to do it safely was a bit harder, but doable. Once the power stopped flowing from the gem to the island, he knew it would collapse into the sea, there was little he could do about that, but as long as they got to the sloop quick enough it wouldn't be a problem.

What he hadn't accounted for was for the newly released gem to form into a giant monster the moment it was let free of it's transparent prison, before any of the Crystal Gems could bubble it. It was at times like these that he wished Garnets future vision was a bit more accurate. Speaking of the gems, he had no idea where they were. The monster was huge, bigger than most other corrupted gems he'd seen, and it was strong enough to fuel the entire island. It pretty much instantly broke the structure they were in, and he was forced to split up to get away. He had _hoped_ the monster would chase after one of the more combat capable gems, as he didn't really have the power to take on such a foe and have enough juice left to get back to the sloop in time, and the armor was too heavy to swim in.

Luckily his salvation comes in the form of a familiar purple gem once again grabbing him with her whip. "Amethyst! What about the-"

"We can't beat it _and_ get to the boat!" She yells, over the crashing sound of the monster barreling through the foliage. Amethyst takes advantage of her speed and outpaces the monster, but it's pursuit is relentless. Even with the added speed by the time they reach the sloop the monster is only a few hundred feet of flora behind them. Pearl is in the sloop already, and Garnet is posed to push it out to sea. Amethyst wastes no time, leaping from the sand into the boat with Dan under her arm.

It's barely in time. The beast pounds it's forearms on the beach as they drift away, a chunk of the sinking island breaking off and taking the thing with it.

There's an uncomfortable silence between them as they watch at the land disappear beneath the waves. Technically, their mission 'to stop the living island' was a success, but it sure didn't feel like one.

Dan, after he's released from Amethysts binds, takes a seat near the front of the boat, slumping against the bow. He flicks his goggles off and shifts them up to his forehead, revealing heavy bags beneath his eyes. "I'm going to sleep. It's, like, one o'clock in the morning."

There was a pause, the other gems still focused on where the island once was. After a moment, Pearl looks up. "I hope St-"

"Pearl, if your worrying over Steven wakes me up, you get to swim home."

Pearl wasn't sure if he was serious or not, but she didn't say anything else.

* * *

Slowly, the sloop drifts in next to the dock. Dan, who woke up a few minutes ago at the call of 'land,' steps off first. However he's almost thrown off the dock as Pearl rushes past him towards a sitting Steven, further down the dock. "Ok, let me see it… you got them to go away?"

Dan and the other gems stroll up, the older man ruffling Steven's hair. "I knew you were going to be fine. Looks like your agonizing was pointless, after all." Dan sports a cocky grin, which only grows as he sees Pearls lips purse into a line.

"I wouldn't have been so worried if you just went back and helped him."

"If I went back and helped him then I couldn't have gone on the mission. And clearly, you needed my help." Dan's grin has fallen now, a small frown present on his face.

Pearl almost growls, standing to face him. "And what did you do, release the gem and let it rampage over the island!"

Dan's frown is a sneer now. "As if you would have done better without me. You probably would have just smashed the containment cell and possibly caused a feedback-"

"I'm smarter than that-"

"Are you? Because-"

"G-guys, I'm f- _feline_ fine!"

Their heads snap around, focusing on Steven. He flinches back from their looks, the glares they had focused on each other now focused on him. Instantly, though, their expressions soften, his forced smile and worried look jolting them from their surprisingly heated argument. There's a long silence, with only the sound of the ocean slapping against the side of the sloop to break the quiet.

Eventually, Dan lets out a small, tired sigh, a slight smile finding his face. "Good. If you were hurt… that'd be a _cat_ -astrophy. Greg would _purr_ -der me for sure."

Steven seems to relax a bit, a tiny, but now genuine, smile on his lips. However, the tension is still thick in the air. Pearl makes the wise choice to walk away, although her posture is stiff and her hands are still balled in fists. Dan walks off soon after, straight towards Beach City. Garnet follows after Pearl soon after, leaving just Amethyst and Steven on the dock. The white haired gem moves over to the boy and smiles, although a bit of worry is present in her visible eye. "Hey, Steven, wanna get some fry bi-"

"Why do they fight like that? I thought they were friends?" He responds, shutting down her attempt to cheer him up. "They're both really smart, they should get along great!"

Now it's Amethyst's turn to sigh. After a moment, she responds. "That's exactly why they fight. Dan is… well, like me I guess. But Pearl can deal with me because I don't got smarts. Dan… makes Pearl look dumb, sometimes, even if he doesn't mean it." She runs her hand through her hair, taking a seat on the side of the dock. "Pearl gets on Dan's nerves, big time. I can brush off the stuff she does, but Dan… some of the things she does just get under his skin."

Steven sports a heavy look of sadness, taking a seat next to her. The fact that two of the most important people in his life don't get along clearly hits him pretty deep. Amethyst notices.

"Don't worry Steven, they don't hate each other, they just don't see eye to eye all the time." She tries, but it's clear her words don't get through to the youth. Her lips form a line, her hair hiding the concern on the side of her face Steven could see. She was never good at the touchy feely stuff… well, none of the gems were, but at least Garnet seemed to know how to console him. With nothing else to do, she gives him a pat on the back and stands, heading towards Beach City. She needed to talk to Dan. Actually, what was more likely was that Dan needed to talk to her.

* * *

 **And so, the first cracks begin to show. I wasn't super happy with the mission part of the story, but I was super pleased with the argument and the end.**

 **I've tried to at least justify everything I write. If it shows up, it should at least be entertaining, or teach something about a character, or explore a bond, or something. The mission was necessary, to build some tension between the two of them, as well as somewhat explore Dan's relationship with the gems. More on the latter to come.**

 **I really should do a full plan if I'm going to go into uncharted territory like that again. It felt like wandering without a map, and the plot only happened to find my way back to Beach City, somehow. I'm pretty sure that much was clear from just reading it. Making stuff like that up on the fly is a lot harder than making small changes to an already existing story. I suppose that's why fanfiction exists in the first place.**

 **If anyone was saddened by the ending of this chapter, the next episode down the chopping block is bubble buddies! I wish I had better plans for that one, it's one of my favorites. I really don't wanna go back to just rehashing cannon, but at the same time I don't want Dan to get in the way of Steven and Connie. Well, I'll figure something out.**


	5. Chapter 5: Talk

Amethyst rings her hands, looking up at the sign. The shop reads "Gizmops," with the first three letters in green, and the rest in white. All the letters have a black outline. After a moment of observation, she steps in.

The moment she does, a mechanical voice calls out. "BZZT! HELLO AND WELCOME TO GI-"

"Hey Gizmop." The gem quickly responds, walking past the robot. A short glance is given to it. One of the googly eyes stuck to the mop that was it's 'head' had fallen off, and the metal of it's body had a thin layer of dust.

"HELLO- Amy." It says, saying her name in Dan's prerecorded voice.

Without another word to the bot, she slips past the counter to a door marked 'employees only.' She doesn't give the sign any thought, pushing through into a small room. It seems to be a maintenance and repair room, but she's not interested in that. She continues through, to what appears to be elevator doors. While there's only an 'up' button on the wall, she shifts the panel a bit, hitting a hidden 'down' button.

She only has to wait a few moments before the doors pull open and she steps inside. There aren't any buttons on the inside. Once again, she's waiting, as the doors slowly close and the elevator begins to descend. One of her hands comes up to nervously rub her arm. She never liked this place. To… uniform? Controlled? Her thoughts are cut off as the elevator doors open once more, the white haired gem stepping out into a narrow corridor. It's completely metal, the walls, the floor, the doors further down the hall. She continues down, ignoring the many doors lining the area, instead heading straight down towards the automatic door at the end.

"Dan?" She says, as the doors swing open by themselves. The room is large, strewn with tables, mechanical parts, and monitors. Dan is there, facing away from her, leaning over a table in the center of the room. Sparks fly off from whatever he's working on, and he doesn't acknowledge Amethyst's calls. "Dan." She says again, walking closer. Dan looks over his shoulder for a moment, showing his goggle covered eyes, but immediately goes back to his work. "Dan, you're not supposed to work while you're angry. Remember Smash-o-Tron?"

Dan pauses for a moment, his lips pursing. The purple gem moves next to him, staring down at what he's working on. "I'm not _that_ mad, Amy. I just need something to do."

She makes a hum of acknowledgement, eyes tracing over the intricate groves that cover the surface of whatever it is he's doing. It kinda looks like a circuit board, but it also looks like some sort of gem tech, with a power cell stuck smack dab in the middle. "Ok."

With a short hop, she jumps onto the clear side of the wide table, swinging her legs as she waits. Her fingers strum on the cold metal of the raised platform. Dan keeps working on the object, using some sort of torch to carve out more grooves in the surface. Amethyst watches, not really his work, but more the look on his face as he focuses more and more on his task. It shouldn't be long now.

"She's just so stuck up, you know?" The man huffs, running the bright flame over a line a few times, making it deeper than the others.

Amethyst nods her head knowingly. "Totally."

"She acts like she knows everything, all the time, even when you're blatantly right! I mean, I was worried about Steven, but he's a smarter kid than she gives him credit for." His leg bounces slightly as he works, his grip tight on the mechanical device. "Steven is growing up. He's like… thirteen now, right? He's starting to handle himself, now. There's no point in worrying about him!"

"Yeah, Steven's pretty smart, in his own way." She says, nodding once again. "He got the hang of transforming pretty quick, even if it was just a few fingers."

"Exactly! Why can't she just _trust_ the kid once and a while!" He banged his free hand against the table as he spoke, shaking the table. He paused. The object of his apparent attention now sported a jagged, deep ridge along it.

Slowly, Dan's grip on the torch loosened. His thumb shifted and the flame died, and he placed the device on the table.

Amethyst was reminded of why she didn't like it down here. There was only the hum of the ventilation this far under the ground, and it was all they heard for a minute.

Then, Dan let out a breath, grabbing the wasted piece of technology to discard it in a pile near the edge of the room. Without another word to the gem, he headed for the exit.

A smile rose to Amethysts face. "I'm gonna eat all your snacks while you're gone." She stated, hopping off the table.

Dan paused for a only second, as the automatic doors separated. "Go ahead."

* * *

Meditating helped. Pearl just focuses on the calming, constant rush of the water, pondering the patterns of the unnatural flow. What happened earlier was… embarrassing. She'd let the man get under her skin. It was only a momentary lapse, but her serene composure is ruined by the twitch of her eyebrow as she recalls the event. The man was just too full of himself. Didn't he even worry about Steven?

Pearl stifles a scowl threatening to appear. She wouldn't let him get to her again. He only had a handful of decades under his belt, how could she blame him? But then again, that was another reason he shouldn't have such an inflated sense of self worth. Not that there was anything _wrong_ with him, but his personality certainly didn't make her rethink her voluntary isolation from the rest of his species.

She takes a breath, enjoying the cool breeze that flows through her room. He was just a human. An admittedly smart human, but still just a human. He-

Her thoughts are interrupted as she hears a sharp, repeated banging on her door. She lets out a small sigh, but doesn't move from her spot. Soon enough, the banging ends. It's probably just Steven. Normally she'd be the first to answer him, but she needs her time to think right now. A pensive look slowly reaches her face and her eyes close once again, before almost immediately being interrupted by the knocking again. This time, even louder. The gem grits her teeth, but ignores it again. If it was really serious, Garnet would have seen it with her future vision and would take care of it.

The problem is, this time it doesn't stop. It doesn't hold a pattern, making it hard to ignore, and it obnoxiously drowns out the other sounds that she could focus on. After a minute, she finally stands and lets the water pull her in, following along the stream until she emerges in front of the door. Her eyes close as she steels herself, hiding the disquiet the earlier events caused in her mind. Once she's ready, a blue glow surrounds her finger as she motions for the door, the stone pulling open.

"Steven, I can't-" As soon as her eyes open, the calm mask she has on shattered. Dan is standing there, in the doorway. An armored hand keeps the door from closing as her concentration falters, and he steps inside. He doesn't say anything for a long while.

Pearl is reminded of another reason she dislikes the man. Even without his goggles over his eyes, it's hard to get a read on him. His eyes seem cold and uncaring, but that could also be a look of careful contemplation. His posture is tense, but so is hers, and that could mean a number of things. His mouth is set in a stern line, and she can't make out much else. Did come to continue their earlier argument? Did he want a fight? He did still have his combat armor on from the mission.

"Pearl." His words shock her out of her contemplation, but her posture is rigid enough that it barely comes off as a flinch. "I disagree with your coddling of Steven."

That makes her eyes widen a little. He wanted to talk? Well… her mouth slowly opens to respond, but he holds a hand up. The bluish gem's lips come together in a line. Just being dismissed like that made her blood boil, but she wasn't going to let him see it. He couldn't get to her again, even if they were in private.

"But I can understand your reasons. Your… dedication to Rose, your inherently cautious nature, your connections to the boy… so…" He paused, taking a deep breath. "I'd like to apologize, for what I said. I was sleep deprived and irritated. I still am, on both counts, but I shouldn't have let it get to the point that it did. The Crystal Gems could have handled the mission on their own, and I probably should have done the responsible thing and stayed with Steven."

Dan didn't look like he wanted to be there, but he seemed sincere… at least she thought he looked sincere. Silence returned to the pair as Pearl mulled over what he said. It felt… good. He was taking the blame for the incident, and it took a weight off her back to pretend that it was all his fault. But it was just that, wasn't it? Pretending that it was just his fault, that it wasn't an argument between two people, that she hadn't been the irritant in the first place.

Pearl gulps, her hands curling into fists. "I think you're careless. I think you make decisions without thinking, and that you put yourself and others in danger with those decisions." Dan looked tense, more so than before. He clearly wants to say something, but Pearl holds her own hand up. It was her turn to talk. "But, I… I suppose I can understand why you decided to stay with the group and go on the mission, and you were right about Steven in the end. I'd like to apologize as well. I was rude, your presence on the mission was important. Even if I don't see why, Garnet does and I trust her judgement."

Once again, there was a silence. Except this time, it wasn't tense, or even uncomfortable but rather just a little awkward. Neither of them really had anything more to say to each other, so they just stood there.

"Did Amethyst put you up to this?" Pearl eventually says. It didn't seem like a thing she would do, but then again she'd never expected Dan to come to her and apologize.

Dan's gaze shifts upwards, to the roof of the room. His eyes wander along the ribbons and vents, where water bursts forth to cascade down. "In a way, I suppose." He murmurs. "But that doesn't mean it wasn't the right thing to do."

Pearl nods once, motioning with a blue glow towards the door. It opens. Through it, she can see a nervous looking Steven waiting anxiously near the kitchen. Dan gives her a brief wave and exits, putting on a smile as the half gem runs over. Pearl closes the door behind him.

She finds herself letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, her form sinking back into the water to appear at the center geyser. She settles in once more, this time finding it much easier to sink into her meditation.

* * *

Steven walks alongside the taller man as he slowly walks towards the door. "U-Um… what happened?" He asks, eventually. Dan stops, but he doesn't turn to face him, nor does he answer for a good while.

He's about to ask again when the man finally speaks up. "I suppose we've worked things out." It's almost painfully noncommittal, to the point of basically being evasive, but it's good enough for the young boy.

"Then come get donuts with me!" Steven says, moving in front of him to prevent him from walking forwards again. Dan looks down at him and lets out a low, long breath.

"Actually, I was planning on getting some sleep." He raises his right gauntlet and checks something his other hand running through his hair. "In the last twenty seven hours, I've had two hours of interrupted sleep on a tiny boat."

Steven looks dejected, but he nods none the less. Normally, Dan wouldn't be able to resist the look, and it only was donuts… but he really was exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Right now, he just needed some rest. Steven's already moved off towards his loft anyway, the tired inventor moving off out of the house and towards his shack.

* * *

"-he's the Doctor man,

It's Uncle Dan!"

Groggily, Dan opens his eyes. His gaze slowly moves from the ceiling over to the door. A bit of the sleepiness leaves his body as confusion takes over. Usually, this was the part where the boy bursts into his shack and almost rips his door of the hinges. Slowly, he sits up from his laying position on his sofa and stands, stretching his back. Equally slowly, he shuffles over to the door.

"Kid, I thought I told you I was gonna go get some-" As he opens the door, his eyes widen. He'd like to think it wasn't often he was caught off guard, but the giant pink bubble containing two children certainly stunned him for a few seconds. "Steven?..." His eyes dart to the second figure, and somehow they widen even more. "Connie?"

"D-Doctor Gizmo?" The figure inside the bubble responds.

Steven looks between them with stars in his eyes. "You two know each other?"

Dan takes a moment to gather himself, running a hand through his hair. "Yes. More importantly, what's with the bubble, Steven?"

That seems to kickstart the boy's brain. "Oh yeah! I made it when a rock almost fell on Connie! I need your help to get it to go away." He beamed a smile up at the man, who'd just let out a sigh.

"Couldn't you let me get at least one night's sleep before getting yourself into more magical trouble?" He murmurs, turning back into his house.

"Huh? Last time I saw you was two days ago." His comment makes Dan freeze, but after a moment he continues in, heading over to a closet. Out of it, he retrieves… a bag of chaaaps? "How's that supposed to help?" Steven says, watching as the older man opens it and starts munching.

"It isn't, and it won't." Dan brushes past the bubble, pausing only to fix his labcoat before he heads out towards the city.

Steven blinks a couple of times, before rolling after him. "W-Wait! Aren't you going to help?"

Dan doesn't even pause, pulling out another chip. "Nope."

"Doctor Gizmo!" The girl nearly shouts, causing the half gem to stumble. "You've got to help us, we're stuck in here!"

That does make him stop, turning around with a surprisingly soft look on his face. "Connie, I know it probably doesn't make much sense, but it has to be Steven mastering his powers. I could probably pop the bubble, if I really tried, but if the gems or I have to bust him out every time he uses it…" He lets the thought sit, continuing forwards. "Sorry, kids."

This time, the bubble doesn't follow.

* * *

Dan lets out a long sigh as he bites into his first slice of pizza. He was starving, probably literally considering the timeframe. It wasn't the first time the inventor had lost a day or two to the unrelenting need to sleep. What surprised him wasn't that, but the fact that he slept that long after only a day-ish of no sleep. Yeah, he was tired, but not that tired, at least he'd thought.

Idly his gaze drifts out the window as he eats, his thoughts shifting to the city of his retirement. It was a strange, but quaint little place. Things here were never normal, but everyone just acted like it was. It has one of the lowest crime rates in the state, and the country for that matter, but it also has the highest rate of 'natural disasters' pretty much anywhere. Also, it has the highest number of career matching last names, which is what initially garnered his attention.

His thoughts are taken from the city, and from the pizza in his hand, as he sees a familiar pink ball flying through the air, eventually landing with an inaudible splash and sink into the water. He doesn't do anything for a good minute or so, before he slowly returns to his pizza. The boy could handle himself.

* * *

Slowly, Dan approaches the wreckage. The dust and sand in the air are just clearing, and for a brief moment, worried thoughts run through his head. The gems are there too, running towards the collapsed pier. Finally, it settles enough that he can make out two figures, and he lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

The other gems seem relieved as well, although Pearl immediately shouts something at the pair. By the time Dan get's close enough to actually hear them, Garnet says something about 'funky flow' and literally carries the other two off.

"Looks like you got the bubble to go away after all." The man chuckles, his hands buried deep in his coat pockets.

The smile on Connie's face twists into a scowl. If the kid wasn't so darn adorable, he might actually take it seriously too. "No thanks to you!"

Dan waves his hand, dismissing the complaint. "Well that was the point, yeah."

"So… how do you know Uncle Dan anyway?" Steven says, after a moment.

"I happen to know her mother." Dan says, for once responding first.

Connie gives the older man a funny look. "Know her? You practically tau-"

"It's not important." For a moment, Dan actually looks his age, and his tone steels. But it only lasts a moment, before he spins and shrugs his shoulders. "It's good you two get along, though. It'd be a shame if both of my godchildren didn't get along."

Steven and Connie, who had both gone stiff at his change in tone, both grow wide eyed and turn to look at each other. "Godchildren?"

He can't help but chuckle, turning to walk away without another word. "B-But I've never heard of Steven before!" Connie calls after him.

"Well I _was_ going to introduce the two of you eventually, but it seems he beat me to the punch." By then, they'd made it back around to the temple, and Dan breaks off to head towards his shack. "I'll see you later, Steven, Connie." He gives a brief wave over his shoulder, strolling into his house.

Connie looks at the door with pursed lips. "Why is he always so shifty…" She murmurs, stroking her chin in a somewhat Dan-like manner.

Steven's brow furrows. "What do you mean?" He says, turning towards Beach City proper.

Connie doesn't respond for a moment. "Nothing."

* * *

 **I had a lot of problems finishing this chapter. It took far too long to actually finish, about a week, and I really had trouble with the end bit. Once I get comfortable writing Connie I'm sure it'll get better, but until then…**

 **Considered stopping it at the end of the resolution of Pearl and Dan's mini fight, but I only had 2000 words and I'm trying to hit at least 3000 per chapter.**

 **Also, SU the show comes back in a week with the 2 part Gem Harvest. I've only seen one image from it but from that I know it has Peridot and Lapis in it. I do like both of those characters. Thought I might make a few predictions about it, purely from the one screenshot I've seen of it.**

 **It involves Steven's plant powers.**

 **The plot itself has Steven explaining thanksgiving (or equivalent) to the two gems.**

 **Peridot and Lapis fuse. (it's gonna happen eventually)**

 **Also, just throwing it out there, they're probably gonna call the fusion jade, aquamarine, or emerald whenever they finally do. My money's on emerald, 'cuz its the most recognizable gem after the ones already on the show.**

 **Don't really care if any of that is true or not, but it seemed reasonable enough.**

 **Anyway, on the satisfaction scale, I'm like 7 out of 10 on this one. The beginning and middle are great, but once the plot of 'Bubble Buddies' starts, I kinda get lost. Whatever.**

 **Tell me how I did though, I appreciate any feedback.**


	6. Chapter 0: Prelude-Angry Young Man

It was one of those calm, serene days that made Dan remember why he chose Beach City to retire to in the first place. The ocean was picturesque, the sky was clear, and the temperature was hot, but just right for a summer day. Just right for ice cream as well, the lanky inventor giving his waffle cone a bite.

His gaze drifts to his two companions. Steven had opted for chocolate ice cream, while Amethyst had chosen to take a whole tub of vanilla. She wasn't eating as much as she was inhaling the frozen dessert, but he'd gotten used to her somewhat repulsive eating habits long ago. Steven, on the other hand, was taking his time.

"Hey Uncle Greg?" The boy says, breaking the comfortable silence that had been sitting for at least five minutes now. Dan looks down at the kid, an eyebrow rising up from under the sunglasses Steven had gotten him for the occasion. "I was wondering… how did you meet the Crystal Gems?"

The hesitance in his tone practically palpable. Not that Dan was surprised, he had a bad habit of clamming up whenever the kid asked him about his past. It usually ended with him leaving or just ignoring the kid. There was a lot in his life he regretted, and a lot he just wanted to stay buried… but how he met the gems wasn't one of them.

After a moment, Dan lets loose a bark of laughter. "I suppose I could tell you… but you'd have to ask Amethyst first."

For the first time since they'd sat down, Amethyst stops shoveling the frozen dairy in her face. "Why?" She mumbles through at least three scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Dan raises an eyebrow again, shrugging. "Well I'm not going to hold any details back. If I'm gonna tell it, I'm telling it all the way to my first visit to the temple."

In a rare show of embarrassment, the purple gem blushes violet. "Whatever." She murmurs, going back to her food. "But I'm gonna barf all this ice cream on your couch if you mess up any details!"

Dan didn't doubt that. "Anyway, you know the Gizmop shop near the pier? Well a long time ago, it used to be called Gizmo's, and I used to run it."

* * *

Dan runs his hand through his hair. He really hated his hair. It grew too fast, and it was always messy. He'd taken to wearing a headband just to keep the peppered brown locks out of his face. Even with the headband, his hair had grown long enough that it fell over the cloth and tickled his eyebrows. Annoying. Just like everything. At least it gave him something to do with his time; nobody had even entered his shop since he'd opened it up a week ago. Still, he had to sit behind the desk and wait just incase somebody decided to enter. He really needed to invent something to man the store for him. Scratch that, he needed to invent something that people would want to buy. It was becoming apparent that 'gizmos' was too vague. Maybe it was too much? He did stuff the window displays with all kinds of crap, perhaps it was intimi-

Then, suddenly, there's a jingle, and the door opens. Dan is startled from his musings, looking over to the door. However, he doesn't see anything, at least until he leans forwards and looks over the desk. Standing there is a short, white haired girl with purple skin. She looks up at him with indifference, and Dan takes the moment to put on a fake smile. "Hello, and welcome to Gizmo's, home to th-" He stops himself, as he realizes the person was already wandering off into his store.

Dan suppresses the twitch in his brow that threatens to jostle his unruly hair. Jumping down from his tall stool, he follows the purple person deeper into the store. "We have gizmos for all occasions, from cleaning to- hey!"

The mysterious customer was searching through one of his bargain bins, where he threw most of his small, useless gadgets. She was quite literally digging through it, tossing handfuls of gizmos behind her. "You can't just do that! Stop!" He tries, but it's like she doesn't even hear him.

"Ooh, this looks cool!" She eventually says, pulling out a strange looking device. It has a handle, which she holds it by, and a coiled chain. One end of the chain goes into the to the bottom of a cylinder facing away from the handle, and poking out of the cylinder is what looks like a small harpoon.

Dan looks horrified. "H-How did that get in there! Put that down, it's dangerou-"

For what feels like the tenth time, Dan is cut off as the white haired enigma presses down on the button. With a loud 'bang' and the sound of a rattling chain, the harpoon flew out of the end, and Dan closed his eyes and shielded them with an arm.

But there wasn't a yell of pain, or the sound of ripping flesh, or even a yelp as the chain suddenly retracted. Slowly, he uncovered his eyes and looked… but no purple person was found. His head whips around, eventually finding her attached to the far wall, the harpoon firmly stuck inside the wood, her hand still firmly gripping the metal handle of the device. "Whoa! Cool!" She yells, Dan standing there dumbfounded.

After a second, he recovers and runs over, as she pulls the thing out of the wall, gracelessly falling to the ground. "W-Whoa…" He murmurs, helping the giggling girl to her feet. "Your arm should have been ripped clean off! How'd you do that!"

The mysterious girl gets a cocky grin and places her hands on her hips, rubbing her nose after a moment. "I'm just awesome like that."

Dan can't help but chuckle. "What's your name, kid?"

"Ame…" She pauses, a bit of hesitance reaching her face. If Dan notices, he doesn't mention it. It only takes a moment before the look leaves her face. "Amy. Just Amy. And I'm not a kid!"

"Yeah, sure." He says, picking the grappling hook up from where it fell. "Anyway, this thing is basically useless to me, but… do you want it?" He holds it out, offering it to her.

"Really?" She looks almost confused, her brow knitting together. "You're just going to give it to me?"

"If you want it."

'Amy' takes an unusually long time to decide if she wants some free stuff. Eventually, she grabs it, before sprinting out of the shop.

Dan stands there, blinking a few times, his hand still outstretched. Eventually, he shrugs, heading back over to the desk. "What a weirdo."

* * *

"I mean, I was a little miffed that my only customer hadn't bought anything, but I just assumed she'd buy something next time." Dan says, waving his hand in front of his face, shooing away a fly that threatened to land on his almost finished ice cream cone.

"Did she?" Steven says, completely enthralled with the story.

Amethyst lets out a short bark of laughter, nearly spewing out the contents of her mouth. "As if! I got Dan to keep giving me free stuff."

"Is that how you remember it? More like I made you my guinea pig. I just let you keep the successful experiments." Dan wears a wide smirk, a look mirrored by the purple gem.

"Uh huh. Whatever, nerd." She shakes her head with a smile, before shoveling another scoop into her mouth. She was almost scraping the bottom of the giant tub now, even though it looked mostly melted.

Steven still has his eyes glued to Dan. "What happened next?"

Dan takes a minute before he responds, finishing off his cone and leaning back. "Well like I said, after that we struck an agreement. She'd help me test out some of my more dangerous gizmos, and I'd let her keep them so long as she reported back how they worked in the field."

Amethyst finally finishes her ice cream, folding the paper tub up before shoving that in her mouth as well. "You make it sound soooo boring." She says, idly chewing the flavored paper. "But yeah, that's basically it."

"Well, not exactly. There's still meeting other gems, too." Dan folds his hands behind his head, his eyes probably closed beneath the sunglasses.

Amethyst, purses her full lips, but only for a moment. "Yeah, I guess."

"Actually, you wanna tell this part? I don't really know what the others said."

For a moment, she doesn't respond. Just as Dan opens his mouth again, she nods. "Well, it was only a bit after I started using Dan's gadgets on missions, maybe a year or two."

* * *

"Where'd you even get that flying device?" Pearl wonders, the group gently floating as the warp stream moves them back towards home.

"My secret!" Amethyst laughs, flipping over once before the beam of light deposits them onto the warp pad. "Ain't gonna tell you!"

"That's what you say _every time_." Pearl huffs, her arms folding.

Rose Quartz giggles, placing a hand on the uptight gem's shoulder. "Come now, Pearl. We all have our secrets…" Her gaze shifts to the smallest gem, a smile still wide on her face. "That being said, I am curious myself. I never knew you had the aptitude to create such incredible devices, Amethyst."

Amethyst seems to consider something for a moment, before shaking her head. "I didn't make it, Dan did." She says, moving over towards her door. The curved, purple line appears and it pulls open, and she chucks the device in.

"D-Dan?" She hears Rose say, as she dusts off her hands.

She nods, turning around. "Yea, he's a human I met in the town! He's really cool and he made all the stuff I use! He's a really good friend." A wide smile beams on her face, the gem placing her hands on her hips. Slowly, though, the smile fades as she notices the looks on the other gem's faces.

"Amethyst…" Rose murmurs, almost sighing. She looks… sad? Of all the things she expected from the leader of the group, sadness was not one of them. Pearl also looks sad, but it looks almost like pity. Even Garnet sports a frown, her head hanging a little.

Amethysts smile is now completely gone, her arms hanging at her sides. "W-What?"

Now, Rose does sigh. "Amethyst… you really shouldn't… associate with humans. They're… fundamentally different from us." Every few words, she hesitates, as if she's searching for the right way to say it.

"B-But Dan is really cool and-"

"Amethyst." Garnet cuts her off, the small gem going stiff. "Listen."

Rose's lips form a thin line. "Humans… they only live short lives, a century at most. They change, too, all the time. Their habits, their jobs, even who they are as a person can change in a matter of decades." Amethyst had never seen Rose like this. So… down. Borderline depressed. It was infectious. "They can be nice, but they aren't like gems. Dan will never truly understand you, and… you'll never truly understand Dan."

The purple gem didn't have a response. Silence dropped over the group. It took Amethyst a minute before she realized she was crying.

* * *

"Mom _said_ that to you?" Steven's eyes were wide with shock. Even Dan was sitting up in his seat, his attention fully on the white haired gem. He'd never really heard this side of the story before. "But that sounds so… mean."

Dan took the initiative to answer him. "It's not exactly _wrong_ , per se. Gems are very different from humans, in many ways. But… well, Rose wasn't perfect. Actually, it took Greg to change her mind on that point." His words seem to take Steven's mind off the conversation long past, and he turns around to face Dan.

"What about dad? Did he know the gems yet?"

Dan shakes his head, his messy white hair falling in front of his goggles for a moment. "No, Greg doesn't show up for another… ten years? Fifteen?" He scratches his chin, before he shakes his head again, this time to clear the thoughts and focus on the story. "Anyway, it was about a month after Amethyst stopped visiting when I decided to go look for her."

* * *

The rattle of the fence echoed over the empty beach. Just to be sure, he gave it another shake. The signs attached to the middle post clatter, but the fence itself seems stable. Still, he hesitates for a moment. If he was wrong about this, he could be breaking the law, and he really didn't need another run in with the authorities right now. However, everyone he'd asked who recognized Amy said she came from around the cliff, past the fence.

After a moment, he hefts himself up onto the wire mesh, pulling up and over to land with a crouch and a wince. Well, there wasn't much point in going back now, at least until he'd checked. After shaking out his foot, Dan moves down along the beach.

* * *

Rose leans back and laughs, the light, melodious sound filling the temple entrance. A smile beams on Pearl's face, and she soon joins in the laughter. "And Amethyst says you have no sense of humor!" The tall, pink gem notes, her eyes closed by the size of her grin.

Pearl stands tall with her hands on her hips. "I can tell a joke or two-"

Abruptly, the grin that had been growing on Garnet's face falls, the fusion spinning around and adjusting her visor.

"Hello?" A voice says, from just outside their view.

A moment later, the other two gems follow suit. Appearing around the bend of the cliff was a human. "A human!" Pearl exclaims, holding a hand over her mouth. Didn't he see the sign?

"Oh, hey." The lanky man offers a wave, a motion only mirrored by the tallest of the gems. Rose also steps forwards, seeing both of her compatriots freeze up. She always dealt with the humans that wandered over the fence.

A smile finds her face as she folds her hands, getting closer to the human. "Hello! What are you doing here?"

A grin of at least equal size appears on the man's face. "Sorry to bother you, but I was just looking for a friend of mine. About yeigh high? Short white hair? Almost mauve colored skin?" He motions at around waist height, holding his hand flat to show Amethyst's approximate height.

Rose's smile fades as he talks, eventually biting her lip a little bit. "Sorr-"

The opening to the temple fills with an ethereal sound, and behind the group a purple, curved line spits open a stone door. "Hey guys, so…"

"Amy!" The human says with a chuckle, crossing his arms. "This is where you hang out all the time? I've got to say, you have an interesting sense of style."

The gem is silent, staring wide eyed at the intruder. Dan doesn't seem to notice. "Although I will give you props for the cool door, and the crystal formations scattered about. Gives the place some nice feng shu-"

"Go away."

That seems to jolt Dan out of his ramblings. "Huh?"

Amethyst stomps her foot and leans forwards. "Just go away!" She shouts, making everyone flinch. Well, except for Dan, who'd already flinched at the earlier interruption. He instead crosses his arms again, a frown pulling down on his lips.

Dan doesn't let the silence settle in. "Nope." He replies, stepping forwards and up onto the flat platform. "If you're gonna disappear, you're gonna at least tell me why."

The silence does settle, but this time to Dan's advantage. None of the other gems speak up, and everyone's attention was focused on Amethyst. The purple gem felt smaller than she normally did, and beyond all else just wanted to shrink back into her room and let it blow over. But that wouldn't solve anything, and she wasn't sure she could just wait until Dan stopped trying to bother her.

So instead, she talks. "We can't be friends!" She shouts, this time barely getting a reaction out of the man.

"Why?" He says, his arms still crossed.

There was a long pause, the open room only filled with the sound of Dan's impatent foot tapping.

"Because… Because you're a human!" The purple gem eventually yells, her hands curled into fists at her sides. "And… And I'm a gem!"

A weight that was hovering over the group finally lifted. No one wanted to tell him, as he seemed ignorant to the differences between the two of them. He was treating her like a human, but now that he knew he'd go awa-

"No duh." Shock passes over the group, mostly from Amethyst. "You're purple and you've got a rock sticking out of your chest. But you still haven't answered my question." Her jaw flaps open and shut a few times. Dan raises an eyebrow, with a small look of realization. "Unless that was your answer, in which case it's a pretty piss poor one."

"B-But-"

"But what? Humans interact with other species all the time for resources and enjoyment. If you're trying to sell me on that argument, you'd better have poison breath and acidic sweat or else I don't really see a reason we can't be friends."

Amethyst doesn't have anything to respond with. She stands, frozen at the back of the group. Her gaze eventually drifts from the man to her comrades. Rose notices, and turns to face the man. "You really shouldn't be-"

Dan cuts her off with a raised hand. "Look, lady, it's great that you care about Amy, but this really isn't your decision to make."

Pearl looks about ready to explode after that comment, opening her mouth to respond, but Rose nods her head before she has the chance. "You're right." She concedes, turning back to face the youngest gem. The light blue gem is surprised, but she's never one to doubt her leader's judgement, especially when it came to stuff like this.

All attention is on Amethyst now, who is solely focused on Dan. "Are you just going to stand there all day, or are you actually going to make a decision?" He says impatiently.

That seems to push the gem over the line. The tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes turn to streams as she rushes forwards, tackling the man in a hug. Dan doesn't stand a chance, falling back off the raised ground to the sand just outside. "J-Jeez, were you trying to break something?" He murmurs, but his words hide a softness.

"I'm sorry!" Amethyst manages between sobs, her arms wrapped in a vice grip around the human.

Dan can't help himself but chuckle, as he lays a hand over her shoulder to give her a few consolatory pats. "Don't worry about it, Amy. Everyone gets to be a jerk sometimes."

Slowly, Amy's sobs die out, but her grip remains just as tight. "My name is Amethyst." She says, after a moment.

"If you wanted me to call you that, you should have told me at the beginning, Amy."

A muffled laugh comes from the gem, her face still buried in Dan's shirt. "Fair enough."

-line

Steven laughs, a wide smile overtaking his features. "She _cried_?"

"Like a baby." Dan says, giving a wise nod.

Amethyst reaches over to punch him in the shoulder. "Come on, I wasn't that bad!... Was I?"

"A little bit, yeah." Dan can't resist, a large smile pulling the corners of his lips up. "I think I had to throw my shirt in the dryer after I got home."

Amethyst doesn't respond, instead just giving him another punch, a little harder.

"What happened next?" Steven says, either ignoring or oblivious to their antics.

Dan shrugs, his gaze drifting back to the clear sky. The sun now hung a little low, not quite sunset but definitely within a few hours of the horizon.. "Well then I was introduced to the other gems, and… well that's about it really."

Steven frowns, looking towards the temple behind them. "What about your house?"

"The shack?" He says, getting a nod from the boy. "To be honest I don't really live there. It's just somewhere to stay when I hang out at the temple." Before Steven could respond, he holds up a hand. "I've been 'living' there because your parents asked me to make sure you stay healthy while you stay with the gems."

Steven nods once, a smile growing wide on his face. He leans back into his chair, apparently satisfied with what he'd learned about his seemingly enigmatic uncle.

Dan and Amethyst lean back as well, the whole gang focusing on one thing. Relaxing.

-line-

 **This chapter was… really easy to write actually. I already had it worked out all inside my head, and while the details needed to be ironed out, it all came together like I actually planned it or something. That being said, I procrastinated the crap out of this chapter. I only actually started writing it on the ninth, almost a week after I posted the last chapter.**

 **I really like how this one turned out, though, and it's really nice to finally get this out of the way. So now you know how Dan met the Crystal Gems. Mystery solved, I guess.**

 **Also, I got my second review last week! Thank you to the two of you giving me feedback. And I agree, more focus on Dan and less focus on established cannon seems like the way to go. That being said, I do believe it necessary to return to cannon, and I don't regret making the first two chapters focused on it. It was needed to establish Dan's character, I think.**

 **Next time, I actually have something big planned! Not sure how I'm gonna do it, but I hope you like it when it comes around.**

 **Also, I like feedback! It helps me make the story better and hopefully makes me a better writer in the long run. So please, if you can be bothered, review. If not, that's fine too.**


	7. Chapter 6: Rose's Lion

"You should really bubble it." Pearl murmurs one last time, slipping past the smallest gem towards the temple.

"You should really bubble it." The purple gem mocks as Pearl's door closes behind her, the pillow hoisted high above her head like a trophy. Garnet doesn't stick around long, waiting for Steven and Amethyst to get off the warp pad before she vanishes in a beam of light, taking the mission orb they'd brought along with her.

Steven follows the purple gem towards the exit, looking over his shoulder towards where the tallest gem stood. "Do you ever wonder where she goes?"

Amethyst continues for the door, holding the desert glass pillow under her arm as she opens it. "Nope. Garnet always does her own thing. Probably going on some boring solo mission." Steven frowns a little, but nods and breaks off, turning to head up to his loft instead of following the gem outside.

Amethyst makes her way down to the shack sitting just a stone's throw away from the porch, not even bothering to knock. Instead, she kicks the door open, the wood creaking under the force. "HEY DAN!" She shouts, scanning the room.

Dan is indeed inside, and although he appears asleep face down on the couch, a moment later an arm raises in a lazy wave.

"Yo! Guess what I got!" She says, closing the door with her foot as she enters, holding out the pillow. Dan turns his head to face the gem with a frown, although it disappears as he looks at the object.

"Oh, thanks." He murmurs, snatching the pillow to pull it under his head.

Amethyst stands there with her arms out for a second, before snatching it back. "No you idiot, it's a gem!" She says, pointing to the green stone attached to the fabric.

The frown that was on his face earlier returns as she takes the pillow out from under his head. "And?" He says, before he buries his face back into his arm. "Unless it magically grants eight hours of sleep, I'm not interested."

Amethyst grinds her teeth for a moment, nearly throwing the pillow down. "Aren't you curious how I got it?" She says, almost yelling at the sleepy man.

Dan picks up on her tone, turning to face her with a blank look on his face. "First of all, you woke me up in the middle of a really nice nap. Secondly, I don't enjoy hearing about how you get to do cool stuff and I can't because I'm old and I'd die because I'm human. So no. I'll pass."

His words are brutally honest. It's one of the things she likes most about him, even if it meant he could get a bit harsh. That being said, she does noticeably flinch at the tone he used.

Something in Dan's eyes seem to soften as he watches her reaction, the man pulling himself up to sit. "But I guess if you're already here, I might as well hear it."

Amethyst visibly relaxes, tossing the pillow in the air a few times. "Well,"

* * *

"And Garnet and Pearl couldn't do anything about it, but I snatched it right off the pillar with my whip, and all the sand buildings turned back to sand! I totally beat this stupid gem that none of the other Crystal Gems could!" Amethyst swings her fist, punching the soft side of the pillow with a wide grin.

Dan nods and throws his legs up onto the couch. "I wish I coulda seen the looks on their faces. Especially Pearl. I bet she was so embarrassed."

Amethyst nods her head a few times, laughing at the memory. "Yeah, she looked totally dumb! It was the best-"

"LION!"

Dan sits up, and Amethyst turns towards the door. "Lion, I knew you'd come back!" It was Steven's voice from outside, and it sounded… excited? "What are you doing in front of Dan's house? Oh, I bet you just wanted to meet him!"

A moment later, the door swings open. "It's Dan, he's-"

"Steven." Dan says, cutting him off. "Why is there a lion at my front door?"

Steven has a wide grin on his face, with excitement and joy clear in his eyes. If the boy wasn't almost constantly sporting the look, Dan might actually be moved by it. "He's Lion, and he's my bestest friend in the whole world! We met on the mission we just went on!" Steven wraps his arms around the beast's mane

"Oh yeah, I do remember that." Amethyst nods, stuffing the pillow under her arm as she walks over. "But what is it doing here? Didn't it live in the desert or something?"

Dan shuffles towards the group, stretching his arms above his head. He remains silent, but his eyes are locked on the creature.

"It came to see me! We're best pals." Steven hefts himself up onto the lion's back, giving the creature a pat. "See? He's the best!" The pink lion doesn't respond, still just standing there, but it's impassive gaze is glued to Amethyst.

"Uh, it's staring at me." She says, pointing at its face. "It's kinda creepy."

Dan strokes his chin, looking between the two of them. "Amy, bubble the gem." He says after a moment.

Amethyst gives him a weird look, her mouth opening to respond, but it closes after only a second and she pulls the pillow out from under her arm, quickly enveloping it in a purple sphere. A tap later, and it zooms off to the temple. Like that, the lion's attention drifts away, and he lets out a wide yawn, falling to his belly to nap. Steven lets out a little yelp as they fall, that turns into a giggle as he's cushioned by the soft mane.

Amethyst gives Dan another funny look, her left eyebrow arched as high as it will go without shapeshifting. Dan, on the other hand, seems to relax a bit, burying his hands in his pockets. "Well, he seems tame enough. Can you get him off my doorstep?"

Steven nods, giving the creature a pat on the head. "C'mon Lion, let's move!"

Lion doesn't, remaining on his belly with his eyes closed.

"Lion! Lion, come on!" The boy repeats, climbing off the beast and pulling on it. Still, it doesn't move.

Dan sighs and slides past, Amethyst following behind. "Just make sure you have that thing under control before Pearl sees it, or she's gonna freak." He murmurs, running a hand over his head.

* * *

"It's a LION, Steven!"

Dan lets out a small sigh, finishing the mouthful of chaaaaps he was munching on. Amethyst shoots him a sideways glance, a frown forming on her face. Pearl sounded _angry_ , and not the annoyed or even agitated kind, but the full blown yelling kind of angry. Something must have happened on her mission. Dan returns the look with what Amethyst assumes is his best attempt to comfort.

"But he loves me!" A second voice, Steven, yells back.

Soon they approach the house, and the sound of shouting inside. Inside, Pearl and Steven are standing opposite each other. Steven has his arms out at his sides in front of the lion, and Pearl has her spear out. The lion seemed ambivalent to the situation, his large head resting on his front paws. His eyes weren't even open.

"He followed me home! He just wants to be friends!" Steven looks between Pearl and Garnet, the latter of which took a neutral stance near the warp pad, her arms crossed.

Pearl tightens her grip on her spear, still pointing it past the boy. "That's exactly we shouldn't trust it! It came all the way here fr-"

"Hey Pearl." Dan says, entering as he hands the bag of chaaaaps to Amethyst. Without another thought, the purple girl shoves the whole thing, plastic and all, into her mouth, swallowing it without a bite.

Pearl only barely glances over at Dan before her eyes snap back to the pink beast. However, a smile does appear on her face. "Dan, good, you're here. Tell Steven that he can't keep that dangerous creature around!"

Dan raises an eyebrow, moving to form a semicircle between the two. Amethyst walks past them to the kitchen, taking a seat on one of the stools. She pretends to occupy herself with someone's half finished sandwich, but her slow pace and frequent glances towards the light blue gem tell Dan what she's really focused on.

"Get Garnet to do it." He says, folding his arms.

Pearl tenses, her small smile disappearing. "She won't."

That makes Dan smile, his arms unfolding to come together behind his head. "I wonder why that is?" He asks rhetorically, secretly reveling the twitch that forms on her brow.

"Be serious! It's a wild animal!" She snaps, making the man huff.

"Fine," He says, turning to the lion. "Lion, do you promise not to hurt Steven, or anyone else?" He asks, a grin still on his face. The beast obviously doesn't respond, but one eye does open for a second to gaze at him, before it closes again. "Well, there we go. We have to take him at his word."

Despite how serious Pearl was, Amethyst couldn't help but chuckle. That being said, Pearl looks livid, and even she wouldn't push her too hard when she got like this. Just the glare the uptight gem shoots her for her laugh makes her flinch, before Pearl's head whips back around to face the laid back inventor.

"How can you _joke_ at a time like this! Steven, and maybe you too, are in danger right no-"

"Pearl."

Gone is his jovial tone, replaced with a more neutral, almost serious tone. His arms are at his sides now, and his mocking grin is gone. Pearl is _almost_ taken aback at his change of demeanor, but she remains steadfast with a frown.

"There is no such thing as a pink lion."

That, however, does make the gem stop. Her spear lowers a bit and she looks between the man and the lion, a confused look on her face. "What are you talking about? There's one right there."

Dan runs his hand through his hair. "Yeah, there's one, but lions don't come in pink normally. They come in a yellowy blonde color, with bits of black in their mane sometimes. But not pink." He motions to the lion sitting behind Steven. "You're pretty smart, Pearl. Put the pieces together."

The room is silent for a while. Pearl still looks confused, and she's distracted enough with her internal musings that her spear dissipates. After about twenty seconds Dan sighs, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Think, Pearl. You knew someone who _lived_ the color pink. Everything she had or made was pink."

Pearl's eyes open wide, before she turns to him with a glare. "What are you saying?"

Dan doesn't even really feel like raising an eyebrow at this point. "It's Rose's lion." He says, after a moment's pause.

Pearl shakes her head. "No, it's not. Rose didn't have a lion."

"She could have. How else do you explain the pink lion. Hair dye?" Dan meanders over to the seats near the window. Pearl's stance follows him as he moves, her posture stiff and tense.

"Rose didn't have a lion, because if she had a lion she would have told me about it!" She hisses, her eyes narrowed in a harsh glare.

The look doesn't seem to affect Dan. He looks ready to respond, but the next words come from Garnet. "It does make sense." She says, shrugging a little bit. "Rose did keep secrets from all of us."

"But not from me! I was the one she told everything!" Pearl was beyond livid at this point. She was shaking at this point, and when she wasn't shouting, her mouth was open to show her teeth clenched tight inside.

"Rose wasn't perfect, Pearl."

The words cut through the room like a knife. Dan relaxes his neck, the top of his head tapping on the window pane. "She was just as capable as anyone else to omit details, leave out facts, and lie." Even with seemingly relaxed posture, his shoulders were stiff and his hands were curled tightly, very aware of the heavy tension in the room.

Amethyst gulps, no longer pretending to care about the remains of a sandwich on her plate. "Dan." She softly warns, shooting a nervous look towards Pearl.

If it were possible, she looked even madder. "Rose would _never_ lie!" She says, her voice almost a whisper.

"She can and she did. I'll admit that she was almost always truthful, she did lie to me… to Amethyst… Garnet… she probably even lied to you."

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ROSE!"

For once, Dan seems to flinch, his head snapping up, but he maintains his general composure with a straight, blank face. "Sometimes, I think I know her better than you. Your vision of her is warped by-"

"Shut up! You stupid, ignorant human! I can't _believe_ your gall!" Pearl stomps her foot, the house shaking a little bit.

"Pearl…" Garnet says, taking a step forward.

" _No!_ " She shouts, spinning on her heel. "No, I won't let this slide! Not this time! Not about _this_!"

Garnet is visibly taken aback by the ferocity of her tone, especially directed at her. Dan, however, doesn't relent under the seething rage. "About what, your false image of Rose? You can't pretend she didn't do bad things. You can't pretend-"

Pearl spins back to face the human, taking a step forward. "Shut up! I will not allow you and your shortsightedness to tarnish her name!"

Any semblance of 'relaxed' was completely gone from Dan's composure. He sat up straight, with his hands gripping his knees, with a cold glare directed right back at Pearl. "How ironic." He murmurs, exhaling through his nose. "I'm the shortsighted one now, yet you're the one who can't let go."

For a moment, Pearl seems to consider his words, and for that moment the other occupants have a bit of hope that the situation, if not diffused, was at least simmering down. Then, Pearl slams her fist into the nearby counter, cracks splintering out from the point of impact.

"You know _nothing._ " She hisses, her voice low. "You're a short lived fool. You think you knew her? You couldn't possibly!" As she speaks, the tone of voice begins to raise, until she's once again shouting at the man. "You're temporary! A momentary distraction! I hope you hurry up and _die_ already so I can forget about you!"

Dan doesn't have an immediate response. Nobody does. There is a heavy silence that covers the room for a minute. Pearl can't help the small smirk pulling at her lips. For once, she actually won an argument against Dan! Not so smug now, was he?

"You…" He murmurs, malice evident in his voice. There's another short pause, before he stands. "You should really think about what you say before you let it out of your mouth."

Without another word, he turns on a heel and exits the house, slamming the door behind him. A short moment later, Amethyst follows after, but not before shooting a glare towards Pearl.

Pearl is completely lost. Of all the things she expected Dan to do, _walk away_ was the last thing on her mind. Shoot back an insult, divert the argument… she was even ready for him to attack her, but walk away? Especially after what she said… did she lose again?

She spins, brushing past Garnet to enter the temple. Garnet's head dips a little bit, her eyes locked on the wooden panels where the two of them were. She lets out a small sigh, before she turns around to head into the temple as well.

"I'm sorry…"

Garnet spins, looking towards the forgotten occupant of the room. Steven was standing there, tears streaming down his eyes, with his gaze glued to the floor. Her heart breaks a little for the boy. "Steven," she begins, before Steven's head snaps back up to lock eyes with Garnet, at least the best he can with her visor in place.

"I-I didn't want them to fight! I just wanted lion to stay!"

Garnet walks over and takes a knee, placing a hand on his shoulder. With her other hand, she slowly removes her visor, revealing all three of her eyes. Steven's own eyes widen, but he doesn't say anything.

"Don't blame yourself for this. This had _nothing_ to do with you." Before he can respond, she places a finger over his lips. "Pearl and Dan have never seen eye to eye. This was… inevitable."

Steven wipes one of his eyes, confusion evident on his features. "B-But-"

Garnet shushes the boy, shaking her head. "But nothing, Steven. It happened to be about the lion, but it could have been about a mission, it could have happened when you transformed… it could have happened before you were even born. Don't _ever_ blame yourself for this. This is between them."

Steven's eyes drift back towards the ground, but he nods. Garnet stands again, bringing the visor back into existence. She turns and walks towards the temple door.

"You never told me you have three eyes." Steven says, just as the door begins to open.

Garnet looks over her shoulder, a small smile on her lips. "You never asked."

With that, she leaves Steven alone to his thoughts and his lion.

* * *

 **Well this seems familiar.**

 **I swear I don't hate Pearl, but she can be a bit… salty? And the way she views Rose, well… but this fic isn't a Pearl bashing fic, I promise. Dan and Pearl just don't see eye to eye is all. Dan wasn't without blame either, he was the one to push her beyond her breaking point.**

 **I'm super nervous about this chapter, though. Unlike the last chapter, this one was really hard to write. I had to keep a bunch of characters in character in a situation that we haven't really seen them in in the show before. Well, kind of, but not really. Point is, I really have no idea how I did, and it's rather important for the story moving forward. I hope I didn't mess it all up.**

 **It might seem somewhat out of character for Pearl to explode like that, but I think it's reasonable. Pearl is rather fond of Rose, and I think she might have seen Dan's assertion as an attack on her. After all, she did kinda blow up at Steven in the episode Rose's Scabbard, and she actually likes Steven. My favorite episode from the first season probably would have to be that one, and Pearl isn't even my favorite character from the series.**

 **By the way, rewatching that episode, I realize that Steven might have actually used his floating powers when trying to get to Pearl on that floating island, but her glare bummed him out enough that it stopped working.**

 **Anyway, after this mini-arc, expect… actually, that's it for the plans really. My next major plan where I have a really solid idea of what is gonna happen is around Return and Jailbreak. That just leaves the majority of the first season in between me and it. Oh boy.**

 **Well, I'm sure I'll think of something. I always seem to.**

 **Oh, and I got 3 reviews on the last chapter! Thanks for the feedback.**

 ** _yutch mathes_ : Peridot and Jasper are a ways off, but I do have plans for them.**

 _ **SirAuruda1st**_ **: I plan to!**

 _ **craftyminer188**_ **: You're welcome! I hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter.**

 **Please, tell me how I did! Did I go too far? Not far enough? Am I focusing too much on the team dynamic and not enough on events? I appreciate every review that comes in, and I'll try to respond to them in future.**

 **A small note, the first semester of college is coming to a close, so I might upload less as finals roll around.**


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